Multidisciplinary and complex artist Game Genie Sokolov have teamed up with us at Canadian Beats to give listeners an advance listen to their sophomore album, Trans // Mission. The album will be released to the public on April 24, 2020, but all of you good folks have the chance to hear it now!
The album features 12 tracks, including the single, “Fille / Garçon”, featuring Le Couleur’s Laurence Giroux-Do. Others that stand out to me immediately are “Sky Dance” and “Reset”. All of these tracks are upbeat and blend various genres such as electronica, synth-wave, and synth-pop into a complex creation.
“No Life” features Vadell Gabriel and is another favourite on the release. I enjoyed the rap combined with the electronic beats. I believe this track will attract listeners from many genres, and help get Game Genie Sokolov’s name on the radar.
Check out the album for yourself, and find out more about the artist via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hi! My name is Game Genie Sokolov, I’m a girl from Montreal (Quebec). I’m just your average feline MTF queer musician, shy software engineer by day, obnoxious radio host by night, retro-gayming enthusiast and book-reading cuddle monster. 🐱
Tell us a bit about your music and writing style
The Game Genie Sokolov project is an umbrella covering many genres of electronic music with a nerdy approach, mixed with funky sensibilities and Japanese influence. It started as chiptunes made for the Sega Genesis internal Yamaha FM synth. Then, there were vaporwave tracks mixing 80s production values with TV commercials and technical conferences. Next comes the synthwave/chillwave tracks mixing jazz chords with lush pads. All of them produced with custom programming tools. While it may be diverse in genres covered, the production and sensibility unifies it all in a cohesive unit.
Writing is simple: melodies, melodies, melodies. It always starts with a melody. Then comes the sound design parts: how I want this melody to feel like (mood is the number one thing I’m looking for). The production (sound design, drum machine choices, guitar parts) is all built around this, to keep the mood. I’m also a really lazy girl. When I start a track, I know I won’t work on it anymore if I don’t get it going on the first tracking session. I usually work one project at a time, from start to final mixing. Then, I’ll do another one.
Do you have any upcoming shows? For someone who has yet to see you live, how would you explain your live performance?
The album launch was supposed to be live at the Turbo Haus on April 24th (Montreal), but it was canceled (thanks for COVID-19). It will happen live, via streaming. This is the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/595545614626821/
For live performances, there are two approaches. One: I’m cutting the songs into little stems and build/make/demake the tracks live, mixing it and adding effects depending on the crowd response, and playing live drum pads on top. Never played the same tracks twice. Second: I play a live guitar when applicable and have a drummer that plays with me along the backing tracks.
One important part of my live shows is the cosplay/drag queen aspect. I’m out and proud, and I’ll be my favorite anime/video game character on stage. Since I tend to bounce up and down a lot, it’s nice 🙂
If you were asked to suggest only one of your songs for someone to hear, which would it be?
It’s tough, since it’s a diverse body of work. If I give you one track, it may not represents the palette of colors/sounds I’m using, with an interpretation of it. Maybe “Fille / Garcon” with Le Couleur? Or “RGB Colors”.
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so who are your current favourite Canadian bands/ artists?
Le Couleur. Their track CONCORDE is fantastic.